Protective system for railways



Oct. 12, 1937.

w. M. POST 2,095,616

PROTECTIVE SYSTEM FOR RAILWAYS Filed March 4, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l a HW I TNESSES BY W A RNEYS.

Oct. 12, 1937. w. M. POST PROTECTIVE SYSTEM FOR RAILWAYS 2 Sheet sSheet2 Filed March 4, 1937 I v3 Wu W11 N I INVENTOR; 74451155 M Pas TORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 12, 1937 UNITED stairs 6 Claims.

This invention relates to protective systems for railways for thedetection of broken trucks or parts hanging or dragging from passingvehicles which are likely to cause derailment. More par- .5 ticularly,this invention relates to the detector element in such a protectivesystem.

A protective system of the type just mentioned is the subject matter ofa United States patent issued to me December 8, 1936, No. 2,063,336, and

10' the signal circuits and other wiring associated with the detectorelement proper are clearly described therein and need not be describedhere. The detector element of the above mentioned patented inventiondoes not automatically restore 1.6 itself for future operation after ithas been actuated by dragging equipment. The main object of theinvention hereinafter claimed is to provide a detector element which hasthe feature of automatic restoration following an actuation.

.20 One desirable feature of the non-automatic detector elements such asthe one shown in the above patent, is that malicious or accidentaloperation is relatively unlikely because of the necessity that a strongpart be broken in its opera- 125 tion. Hence another object of thisinvention is to provide an automatic detector element which is protectedagainst malicious or accidental operation to the extent that thenon-automatic devices are so protected.

30 Another object of this invention is the avoidance to a substantialextent of the time and expense involved in re-setting the non-automatictype of detector element. Other objects and advantages will becomeapparent from the fol1ow- 35 ing description of a specific embodiment ofmy invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. I of the drawings shows a plan view of my invention installed in asection of railway track.

Fig. II shows a side elevation of same.

Fig. III shows an end view of same.

Fig. IV shows a section taken about the lines IV--IV of Fig. I.

Fig. V showsa section taken about the lines V-V of Fig. IV. 1 Fig. VIshows asection taken about the lines VIVI of Fig. IV, showing theunbroken wooden protective pin before the device has been oper- 50 ated.

Fig. VII is the same as Fig. VI except that the wooden protective pin isshown broken after the device has been operated; and,

Fig. VIII shows a section taken about the lines 5 VIII-VIII of Fig. II.

For the purposes of a detailed description, the embodiment of myinvention shown in the draw-- ings, may be resolved into the followingelemerits: a rocker shaft l, detector plates 2, supports 3, an operatingarm 4, a connecting link 5, 5 an operating rod 5, an automaticrestoration means I, a protective means 8, a signal switch 5, and aconnecting link it). The device is shown installed with rails l5 andties It.

The rocker shaft i has a square cross-section and is supported forrotary movement beneath the rails 55 and between the ties it by thesupport 3 positioned near the ends of the ties [6. The support 3 has anupper piece I? which is securely attached to two adjacent ties,supporting the shaft l between the ties iii and under the rails l5.

The detector plates 2 are distributively positioned the length of theshaft I, on both sides of the rails l5 where dragging equipment islikely to be. Plates 2 are omitted from the central portion of the shaft1 because from experience they are not necessary at this point, thoughthey could, of course, be used there. The plates 2 are made of twopieces riveted together by rivets I8 and bolted to the shaft i by a bolti9 as shown in Fig. VIII. It will be noted that the two pieces of theplate 2 embrace the square shaft l with the bottom edges of the plate 2turned under the shaft i to make a rigid connection. The plate 2 must bestrong enough and suiliciently rigidly attached to the shaft 5 to insurethe rotation of the shaft l by a severe blow on the plate 2 fromdragging equipment. Relative movement between the plates 2 and the shaftI must be avoided.

At one end of the shaft 5 an operating arm 4 is rigidly attached andthis arm 4 is connected to the operating rod 6 by means of theconnecting link 5. The operating rod 6 extends through the automaticrestoration means i and at its other end is connected to an operatingarm 2!] of the signal switch 8. Both the signal switch 9 and theautomatic restoration means l are securely anchored alongside the track.J

The automatic restoration means l has a housing 25 with a removableupper portion 25. The lower portion of the housing 25 is formed withsupports 21 for securely anchoring the housing 25 and with a pair oflugs 28 which straddle the rod 6. The lugs 28 and the rod 6 have holeswhich are in registry when the detector plates 2 are in the verticalposition ready for actuation by a piece of dragging equipment. A woodshear pin 3! passes through these holes and is held in 'erating arm 5.

place by set-screws 32 in the holes of the lugs 28, as clearly appearsin Fig. VI. Of course, other materials than wood could be used for theshear pin 3| provided the pin 3| be breakable by the effective force ofdragging equipment against a detector plate 2 but not breakable bylesser forces. The pin 3| must be strong enough to avoid accidental ormalicious operation of the device. Fig. VII shows a pin 3| which hasbeen broken by the operation of the device, and which must be replacedby the simple operation of removing the screws 32, removing the brokenpieces, inserting a new pin 3| and replacing the screws 32.

The plates 2 are maintained in and returned to the operating positionafter recording a piece of dragging equipment by means of thecounterbalancing springs 35 around the rod 6 and within the housing 25.There are two springs 35, one on each side of an abutment element 36which is securely fastened to the rod 6 by a pin 31 at the midportion ofthe housing 25. The two springs 35 thus abut against the opposite facesof the abutment element 36 and the opposite ends of the housing 25 andoppose each other to preserve a balanced equilibrium. The abutmentelement 36 is disc-like in shape and is formed with peripheral flange oneach face to retain the springs 35 in position.

The operation of this device is clear from the above but a briefdescription of a cycle of operation may be of value. When a piece ofdragging equipment comes into contact with one of the detector plates 2,the rocker shaft is rotated around its longitudinal aXis which moves theop- The operating arm 5 then forces the operating rod 6 to move bybreaking the shear pin 3| and overcoming one of the springs 35. Theoperating rod 6 moves the link iii and the operating arm of the signalswitch 9 which registers the dragging equipment. The operator thenrestores the circuits controlled by the switch 9 for normal operation,and a new pin 3| is inserted in the manner referred to above. Because asevere blow is required to break the pin 3|, the danger from maliciousor accidental operation is substantially eliminated. However, the deviceis automatically set for further operation by one of the springs 35which immediately returns the plates 2 to the vertical position forfurther operation. The protective means 8 may be restored at leisure forthe detector device is otherwise fully operable as soon as the circuitshave been restored for further signal registration.

Thus my invention is simple of operation and rugged of structure. Itautomatically restores itself for future operation immediately afteractuation, and it is protected against malicious or accidentaloperation. The restoration of the protective feature is inexpensive andrequires but a few minutes.

While I have described the above embodiment of my invention in somedetail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and changes may be made Without departing from the spiritof my invention as herein-' after claimed.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: 1. In combination with arailway track, a detector element comprising a pivotally mounteddetector plate extending transversely of said track to contactimproperly hanging parts of a car passing over said track, a signalswitch operated by said detector plate, an automatic restoration meansfor returning the detector plate to its operating position afteractuation, and a protective locking means for preventing improperactuation of said detector element.

2. In combination with a railway track, a rocker shaft extendingtransversely of said track, a detector plate mounted on said rockershaft to contact improperly hanging parts of a car passing over saidtrack, a signal switch, means for trans- .mitting motion from saidrocker shaft to said signal switch, means for returning the rocker shaftand detector plate to its operating position after actuation, and aprotective locking means for preventing improper actuation of saiddetector element.

3. In combination with a railway track, a rocker shaft extendingtransversely of said track, a detector plate mounted on said rockershaft to contact improperly hanging parts of a car passing over saidtrack, an operating arm mounted on said shaft, a signal switch, alinkage means conmeeting said operating arm and said switch,counterbalanced springs for maintaining said shaft and detector plate inthe operating position, and a breakable protective pin for locking saidshaft and detector plate in the operating position.

4. The invention of claim 3 characterized further by the fact that thereis a plurality of said detector plates distributively positioned on saidshaft between and outside the rails of said railway track whereby animproperly hanging part at any place under a car passing over said trackwill be detected.

5. In combination with a railway track, a rocker shaft pivotallysupported transversely of said track, a detector plate mounted on saidrocker shaft to contact improperly hanging parts of a car passing oversaid track, an operating arm mounted on said shaft, 2. signal switchhaving an operating arm, an operating rod connecting said operatingarms, an anchored housing through which said operating rod has capacityfor longitudinal movement, an abutment element secured to said operatingrod within said housing, counterbalancing springs in said housingabutting against each side of said abutment element, the other ends ofsaid springs abutting against said anchored housing, and an anchoredlocking means, said locking means being connected to said operating redby a breakable shear pin.

6. In combination with a railway track, a rocker shaft pivotallysupported transversely of said track, a detector plate mounted on saidrocker shaft to contact improperly hanging parts of a car passing oversaid track, an operating arm mounted on said shaft, a signal switchhaving an operating arm, an operating rod connecting said operating armsby links at each end thereof, an 1 anchored cylindrical housing throughwhich said operating rod has capacity for longitudinal movement, anabutment element attached to said rod at the central portion of saidhousing, a counterbalancing spring on each side of said abutment elementabutting against an end of said housing and against one face of theabutment element, and a protective locking means attached to saidhousing and to said rod by an easily replaceable wooden shear pin.

WELLES M. POST.

